A Trail of Colored Packages
by Enigmatic Tathren
Summary: Six episodes of Raw. Six gifts. But Miz and Mickie are friends, and only friends. The gifts are only part of the storyline and don't really mean anything.. right?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. And probably not even that.**

**A/N: Here it is! The (not quiet so) long-awaited Miz/Mickie story! For all new readers, this is a spin-off of my other series, though you should be able to pick up the back story rather quickly. Also, I don't really write romance stories so my apologies if this completely sucks. Anyway, here it is!**

Four wrestlers stared at the screen in shock. Though none of them could say that they were overly surprised by the announcement, they hadn't been expecting it either. "I can't believe he's finally retiring…" Mickie murmured.

Jericho snorted. "About time he did. Why the hell has he been sticking around this long? It's not like there was anything for him to do."

"Yeah, but you're going to miss him," Miz said.

"Never said I wasn't."

All of them were going to miss him, although they were some of the few people who would. Many people in the locker room still felt that it was Jeff's fault that Vince McMahon had been forced out of the company, though in reality it was Vince who had wronged Jeff, Matt, and the small group of four lonely outcasts.

Hunter interrupted the silence. "Come on, we should go talk to the guy. Telling the fans you can't wrestle once is hard enough. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to do it twice."

They met up with Matt and Jeff just outside the locker room. "Don't say anything," Jeff said when he saw them. "Please, just don't."

"We weren't planning to," Mickie told him gently.

Hunter nodded. "Get your stuff, say whatever goodbyes you want-" Jeff snorted. "-And we'll leave. Maybe find a place to hang out and-"

"Actually, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not go anywhere tonight," Jeff interrupted. "I have an early flight tomorrow and I still need to finalize some things with Stephanie.

The goodbyes were said then and there. They were quiet and quick, enough to comfort their friend without making it seem like a permanent separation. Jeff disappeared into the locker room, with Matt not far behind. The four remaining exchanged a quick look before Jericho went inside as well; until Jeff was on that place the next day they still felt like they had to look out for him. The other three dispersed, some to prepare for a later match and others to try to figure out how their coworkers felt about what had transpired, partially to soothe their own curiosity and partially to see where they might stand with the others in the future.

Later that night, long after the show was over and when most people were finally starting to go to sleep, there was a soft knock at the door to the hotel room that Miz and Jericho were sharing. "It's unlocked," Jericho called.

The door opened and Hunter walked in followed closely by Mickie, who shut the door behind her. Meetings like these were rare, mostly because they were largely pointless for day to day matters, but also out of fear of some of the other wrestlers assuming that they were plotting to "overthrow someone else". Rare occurrences, however, called for rare meetings to talk about what they would do next.

Hunter began the discussion. "I talked to Stephanie. Seems like Jeff only told her about his retirement right before Raw, but she had been expecting it for awhile.

"It wasn't any secret that Jeff was starting to become unhappy," Miz pointed out.

"Yeah, well, from the sounds of it none of the other higher-ups were too happy to hear his announcement. Stephanie has no problem with Jeff retiring but she still has to work out a deal for his merchandise sales and try to smooth things over with everyone else."

"So basically there's discontent among the officials and be prepared for some backlash?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Then why the hell didn't you just say that in the first place," Jericho muttered.

Mickie rolled her eyes and elbowed him none-too-gently. "Well what did you find out, then?"

"Nothing new, really. Not too many of the guys seemed all that surprised when he walked into the locker room, but some of them did look like they wanted to talk to him."

"But no one did, did they?"

Jericho shook his head. "Nope. Looks like, even with Jeff gone, people are afraid to take his side in what happened."

"That's basically what I overheard backstage too," Miz said. "A lot of the guys seemed to be upset that Jeff's career really was over now because of Vince, but none of them wanted to actually _talk_ about it."

Hunter sighed. "Keep low for a couple of days then, at least until this blows over a little bit. None of us need people to hold new grudges against us, not when they're still pissed about Vince." He stood up, stretched, and made his way over towards the door. "I'm going back to my wife. See you guys in the morning."

Jericho looked between Miz and Mickie, the latter of whom showed no signs of leaving anytime soon. "I'll just… take a shower, or something," he said before walking away, the bathroom door slamming a few moments later. He knew that the two of them had grown close and didn't want to be around for the touchy-feely moment that was bound to ensue.

"How're you holding up?" Miz asked softly after Jericho was gone. He could easily tell that diva was upset about something.

"As well as could be expected, I guess," she murmured. "It's just… Vince really did it, you know? Jeff had to retire because of what he did. I hate the thought of him _winning_."

"He didn't win," Miz said forcefully. "He's gone, and we're still here. Jeff only left because he wanted to, not because Vince forced him to. Besides, if Vince had actually achieved what he wanted to, don't you think we would have been fired already?"

Mickie shrugged and wiped furiously at her eyes, doing her best to not cry. She had changed in the past few months, going from the carefree diva she used to be to a more quiet and withdrawn version of herself. She had stopped complaining about everything that was wrong, having decided that if the others were strong she needed to be too. Jeff's retirement didn't change any of that.

Miz, however, had the uncanny ability to see through her façade even when Hunter and Jericho honestly thought that everything was alright. He pulled her into a hug just as she finally broke down and started crying. He held her tightly, rubbing soothing circles on her back until she finally started to calm down again.

"Promise me you won't leave too," she murmured.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to leave you," he told her quietly. "I'm not going anywhere, ever." He silently added, _Not as long as I'm in love with you_.


	2. Red is for Roses

**Disclaimer: Seriously, do you think I own anything at all?**

**A/N: So, despite the pitiful lack of support I am charging forth with this story! I promise, it WILL be done by the end of the month (I'm participating in NaNoWriMo during November and don't want to have loose fics lying around). **

_Several Months Later_

Miz groaned as his cell phone went off, waking him up after what seemed like only a few hours of sleep. Eyes still closed, he fumbled around for it, knocking his watch and various other items off the nightstand in his search. Just when his fingers finally brushed it, someone grabbed it out of his hand.

"Hey, Mickie," Jericho said as he answered the phone. Miz pulled the pillow over his head to try to block out the sound of his friend's too-awake voice.

"Miz? Well, he's not exactly awake yet." Jericho glanced over at Miz as he talked. "So anyway, how're you doing?" Miz leaned over and tried to grab the phone, but Jericho took a step back just out of his reach. "Oh, really? No, I hadn't seen that… Well, I'll pass the message on to him. Yeah, nice talking to you too. Bye."

"What was that about?" Miz asked around a yawn as he finally started to get out of bed.

"Mickie got a new copy of her script today. I guess there's a scene between the two of you." Jericho smirked. "A _romantic_ scene."

"Really?" Miz asked with forced interest as he began looking for clean clothes.

"Yeah, and from what she said it sounds like some trashy romance novel rip-off."

"Lucky me."

Jericho didn't pick up on the fact that he was completely serious, not sarcastic. "Hey, at least it's Mickie and not one of the other Divas. At least with her it won't be awkward or anything. You guys will do the scene and probably laugh about it later."

"Yeah, probably."

Jericho frowned, having finally picked up on the fact that his friend was acting strangely. "Hey, are you alright? If the storyline really bothers you that much just get Stephanie to rewrite it or scrap it before the show tonight."

Miz shook his head. "No, it's fine. Listen, I need to go talk to Mickie. I'll catch up with you later, alright?" He dashed out of the room without waiting for a response.

Mickie was pacing anxiously in the lobby and started slightly when Miz made his presence known. She motioned toward the hotel café and said, "Let's grab something to eat while we talk, okay?" Miz nodded and followed her instead to an out-of-the-way corner table. Immediately after they had placed their orders she asked, "So have you looked at the final script for tonight yet?"

"No, I haven't had a chance, but Jericho said we have some scene together that looks like it's out of a "trashy romance novel", as he put it."

Mickie laughed. "It's a bit sappy, but not that bad." She pulled a copy of the script out of her bag and tossed it to him. "Here, read it."

It was a short scene and though Miz wouldn't admit it, it was pretty good. He had been worried that Stephanie would either reject the idea or write it horribly when he suggested it a couple of weeks ago, but it seemed like things were pretty good so far- except for Mickie's reaction.

"Not that bad," he agreed. "So what's the problem?"

"It's just that it's with you! I mean, I don't want this to make things weird between us or anything. I don't want this to ruin the friendship we already have, you know?"

Miz reached across the table and grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "It won't ruin anything, I promise. Besides, the scene isn't really written out so if you ever feel like it's too much just end it one week, okay?" He cared about her too much to put her through this if she really didn't want to do it, but at the same time he really wanted her to give the scene a chance.

"Sounds like a plan then." She finished off the last of her soda and stood up. "Oh, by the way, the scene calls for you to shower me with gifts. What am I getting?" She was grinning as she spoke and Miz knew she was joking- mostly.

"First, it's only written that you get _one_ gift each week," Miz pointed out with a chuckle. "And second, even if I knew I'm not going to tell you."

"Aw, come on, why not?"

"Because I want it to be at least partially a surprise," he said with a slight grin as he stood up as well. "Besides, you'll see it tonight anyway."

XXXXX

Jericho watched Miz pace around the motel room, looking up the numbers for various floral shops on his cell phone. "So let me get this straight," he said slowly. "You need to give Mickie roses tonight."

"Yeah. Red roses."

"And yet you can't find a shop that will sell them to you?"

Miz sighed. "It's not that. It's just that I don't want to give a regular bouquet of flowers."

"Does it really make a difference?"

"Yes, it does."

Jericho waited for Miz to elaborate, but when it became obvious that he wasn't going to he prompted him. "Because…?"

Miz looked up from his phone. "Because she's my friend, she's not really a rose-bouquet girl, and because I have nothing else to do before the show."

"And this is just a storyline," Jericho reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Miz muttered. He finally found another florist that was nearby and dialed the number. "Hello, I'm looking for a rose arrangement that's a bit different from the traditional bouquet, do you have anything…?" He paused. "Really? That sounds great! When should I pick it up…? Okay, thank you!"

"I take it you found something?"

"Yup." Miz grinned. "Underwater roses."

The start of the show was quickly approaching by the time Miz left to pick up the arrangement. The floral shop was located only a few blocks from the hotel and wasn't too hard to locate. The bell above the door jingled as he walked in and the only employee in the store looked up from their work. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Yeah, I'm here to pick up a rose arrangement."

"Oh, you must be the underwater roses," she said as she walked over to the cooler and began looking inside. After a few moments she pulled out the arrangement.

"That's perfect!" Miz said as soon as he saw it. The roses actually were underwater in a tall, glass cylinder, with the stems pushed into the decorative stones that littered the bottom of the container. The varying heights only added to the charm, making it look like a forest of roses was growing.

As the employee rang up his purchase she said, "This may sound crazy, but you wouldn't happen to be one of the WWE superstars, would you?"

Miz resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _It's just my luck to get recognized in a damn floral shop_. "Would it help if I told you I'm awesome?" he said, trying not to make it sound as sarcastic as he wanted it to be.

XXXXX

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Miz?"

Miz turned around, not too surprised that Stephanie wanted to talk to him but shocked at how cold her voice sounded. "Yeah, sure. Is something wrong?" he asked as he followed her a discreet distance away.

"You tell me," she snapped. "What's this I hear about Mickie not knowing that you suggested the new storyline? If I had known you wouldn't tell her that I never would have agreed to it!"

"Stephanie, it's okay. She knows that she doesn't have to go through with this if she doesn't want to, and-"

"And what? You love her, so it will be alright in the end?" She chuckled humorlessly at Miz's shocked look. "I knew the moment you started talking to me about this, Miz."

"Oh" was all he said. He cleared his throat. "You aren't going to tell her, are you?"

She shot him a dark look. "Don't push it," she warned. "But no, I'm not going to. I just want you to think about what would happen if she found out you suggested this. Or have already forgotten everything you guys went through because of 'storylines'?"

Miz stared at her in shock as she walked away. That last comment had been low- and yet he had the sinking feeling that she was right.

"Hey, we're up next. Ready to go?" Mickie asked as she joined him.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure," Miz said quickly, pushing all thoughts of his conversation with Stephanie from his mind. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

The cameraman signaled that they were about to start and Miz and Mickie took their positions. As soon as the camera was rolling, Miz walked up to her as she was talking to Kelly Kelly. "Hey, mind if I cut in for a moment?"

"I'll catch you later Kelly," Mickie said before turning to face Miz. "Good to see you, but what do you want?"

"Well, I noticed you were upset after losing your title last week, so I thought I'd get you something to cheer you up." Miz put on a show of looking around for the gift. "Uh, hold that thought." He walked out of line of the camera, returning a moment later with the roses.

"Oh, they're beautiful!" Mickie gushed. "Thank you so much! I love them!" She kissed him lightly on the cheek before turning and walking away. The camera paused for a moment on Miz, before turning off.

"Thanks guys, that was great," the cameraman said as Miz and Mickie walked away.

"Here, I suppose you need these back," Mickie said, holding the roses out to Miz.

"No, they really are for you," Miz told her with a smile. "I mean, you probably won't be able to take them on the plane but you could keep them until then."

Mickie's face lit up at his words. "Really? Thanks! I was completely serious before, they really are beautiful!" She hugged him quickly. "I have to run, but I'll catch you later, okay?"

Miz nodded and watched her walk away. Everything had gone according to his plan and yet, somehow, it wasn't quite what he had hoped it would be.

**A/N: Check my profile for a link to a picture of the roses mentioned here!**


	3. Orange is for Orangutan

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot, and probably not even that.**

**A/N: Woo, another chapter! Thank you for the reviews guys, though I don't believe I personally replied to you (normally that isn't the case, but I've been so swamped with school I haven't had time for much else)!**

It was the little comments that were getting to him, though the remarks were far from unusual. Every time threw as a new attempt at an onscreen romance there were jokes about it from the other guys- nothing to really get worked up about, except that for Miz this was nothing to joke about. In fact, for him the situation was quickly becoming far too serious.

He had suggested the angel out of some misguided belief that it might help Mickie see him in a new light or at least give him time to work up the courage to ask her out. But Stephanie had given him something to think about and he was starting to doubt the integrity of his plan. Mickie had been hurt by a fake storyline before. Would she feel betrayed, or think that he used her? That hadn't been his intention at all, and if that was going to be the only outcome of this he wanted it called off before it was too late.

"So, the divas are saying that Mickie was thrilled with the storyline on Monday," Matt said. It was a few days after Raw and the two of them had just finished a tag team match at a house show.

"I know." That was the other problem- he couldn't end the storyline without upsetting Mickie, which he didn't want to do at all. The whole mess was shaping up to be a lose-lose situation for him.

"I thought you would've been happier about that." Miz's stomach lurched, but Matt continued talking. "I mean, wouldn't things be easier for you if she actually semi-enjoyed what was going on?"

Miz breathed a silent sigh of relief when he realized that his secret was still safe and that Matt didn't know the full story behind the angle. _Get a grip on yourself and stop being so paranoid_. "Yeah, but… I dunno. It's weird having to work romantic scenes with Mickie. I mean, she's my best friend over here on Raw, y'know?"

Miz started as he heard a new voice ask, "If it bothers you that much, why didn't you have Stephanie call it off?"

"Like I told Matt, I knew that you enjoyed Monday's segment. I didn't want to ask her to end it if you were having fun," Miz told Mickie as Matt made a silent retreat.

"Look, if it really bothers you that much just talk to Stephanie. I don't want you to feel like you're forced into this."

Miz was tempted to take her up on the offer, to just end everything then and there and not worry about it anymore, but instead he said, "No, its fine. I mean, it's probably just more of the guy's jokes than anything else. You know that things are still awkward between and the rest of the locker room at the best of times."

Mickie winced in sympathy. "Ugh, I know what you mean. The divas are something just…"

"Just what?"

"Nothing. I mean, it's not really anything important."

Miz knew that she wasn't telling the truth. Whenever something major was going on she always tried to make it seem like it wasn't as bad as it really was. Miz knew that she didn't want to talk about it because of the few times Jericho had snapped at her for complaining, but he hated that she felt like she couldn't even talk to him about it. "Yeah, right. What's really going on?"

She rolled her eyes. "Contrary to what you must be thinking, not everything that happens in my life is completely horrible." She dug around in her purse for a moment before tossing him the keys to their rental car. "I'm going to hang out with Maria tonight. Drive yourself back."

XXXXX

Miz looked cautiously around the store, expecting to see an army of screaming children start running past him at any moment. He hadn't been looking forward to going into the toy store, but he had finally figured out what to get Mickie for their next segment on Raw: a stuffed orangutan.

In actuality, it was Maria who had given him the idea. After their mini argument at the house show Miz and Mickie had managed to avoid each other for the rest of the week, though Miz was mostly keeping his distance out of respect for her. Instead, he talked to Maria to try to figure out what Mickie had been so upset about.

"_Well… I don't know if she'd want you to know."_

"_I just want to know what I did wrong. Please, Maria, just tell me," Miz begged._

_Maria sighed. "Look, I don't know the whole story- you know how she doesn't really talk to people about things anymore. What I do know is that some of the other girls had talked to Stephanie again about moving Mickie to Smackdown. Mickie's talking to Stephanie about it, though, and is trying to work something out. I know she wants some of the others moved to Smackdown instead, but I don't know if that's true. She probably didn't want to worry you because she wants to deal with it on her own."_

"_Shit. Is there anything I could do?"_

"_Don't tell her I told you and get her something to cheer her up."_

Admittedly, Maria probably wasn't thinking of a stuffed animal when she gave him the advice but Miz had a feeling that Mickie would at least find the gesture slightly amusing, which was better than nothing. Of course, he had to actually get the damn thing first which was proving harder than he had originally thought it would be. After a few minutes he spotted the stuffed animal section and made his way over, carefully combing through the shelves to find what he was looking for.

Finally, tucked away in a corner, he found it. It was a pale orange color with a slightly ridiculous looking face, but absolutely perfect for what he needed it for. Just as he was reaching for it, two small hands snatched it first.

"Hey, I was going to get that!" Miz complained, looking down at the small child who was still holding it.

"But I saw it first!" The child whined.

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I-" The kid stopped mid-sentenced and stared at Miz with in shock. "I know you!" He yelled.

"Shh, okay you know me, now can I have the monkey?"

The kid frowned, and glanced down at the stuffed animal for a moment before looking back up at Miz. "Are you going to give it to Mickie at the show tomorrow?"

"Well, that was the original plan…"

"Can't you give her another stuffed animal?"

Miz paused. Technically he could find something else, but he had had his heart set on this one and as long as Mickie didn't know that he took it from a little kid… "No, I need this one."

"Why?"

_Crap_. "Well… because I gave her something red last week, so it has to be orange this week."

The kid pointed across the aisle. "There's an orange cat down there."

"But… it has to start with the letter "o"!" Miz bluffed. "Roses start with an "r" like red, and the same holds true for orangutan and orange."

The kids eyes widened and he held the toy out to Miz. "I guess I'll find another animal."

Miz almost felt bad for the kid, so he quickly dug a piece of paper and pen out of his pocket. "Here, wait, take this," he said as he signed the piece of paper and held it out.

The kid's face lit up as he grabbed it. "Thank you!" He said. "And don't forget to tell Mickie I let you have the monkey!"

Miz stared at the kid as he walked away. Either Mickie would find the whole situation highly amusing, or she would be furious that he took the toy from the little kid. At any rate, he was not looking forward to having to explain this mess to her.

XXXXX

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be getting ready to do your scene with Mickie?" Hunter asked as he walked into the locker room and saw Miz pacing in there.

"No, I'm not needed tonight. They're setting it up differently."

Hunter sighed. "Look, just… be careful, okay? You know as well as I do- probably better than I do, actually- how easily upset Mickie is. I don't want you to hurt her, understand?"

Miz heard the threat in the last sentence and quickly replied, "Don't worry, I'm not planning on hurting her." _At least, I'm going to do my best not to hurt her_, he added silently.

Hunter nodded tersely and flipped on the monitor just as the camera switched from inside the ring to backstage where Mickie was getting ready for her match. "Hey, Mickie, I found this sitting outside the door," Kelly Kelly said as she walked in. "It says it's for you."

Mickie took the stuffed orangutan from her and smiled. "Who's it from?"

"Dunno, but this was next to it." Kelly Kelly passed her a note.

Mickie opened the envelope and read, "I heard you were upset so I thought this might cheer you up. P.S…." Her voice trailed off and she set the note down, picking up the orangutan again and gently stroking its fur.

"What did the rest of the note say?" Hunter asked.

"I'm sorry," Miz told him.

Hunter was silent for a moment before he said, "If that's the case, I'd suggest going to find her sooner rather than later."

Miz nodded and left the room, jogging down the hall towards where he knew Mickie was.


	4. Yellow is for Yarn

**Disclaimer: Ah, I wish I owned them… but I don't. Sadly.**

**A/N: Ow. Owowow I hate pulled muscles. On the plus side, it gives me more time to write since I don't have to go to field hockey practice tomorrow. On the down side, it hurts. Ow.**

Miz found Mickie where he expected her to be, just down the hall from catering and around the first right hand turn. It was their usual meeting spot, having been decided on randomly one night when they got sick of Hunter and Jericho bickering and just wanted some peace. Miz was just happy that in this particular arena there _was_ a clear right hand turn; there had been several interesting attempts to find where to meet in previous venues.

As soon as he rounded the corner he was knocked backwards a few steps as Mickie all but tackled him. The embrace lasted only a few moments, though, before she stepped away and cuffed the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"That was because you didn't tell me what was going on! When I heard that you weren't in tonight's segment I thought you were still upset at me about last week. Then when I read your note I thought that you thought that I was mad at you, when I wasn't! And now I just don't know what to think!"

Miz chuckled and pulled her into another, calmer, hug. "I'm not mad at you, Mickie. I could never be mad at you."

She pulled away from him, glaring slightly. "I still haven't forgiven you for confusing me," she told him.

"Even though I gave you a stuffed orangutan?" Miz asked. He spotted the stuffed animal lying on the ground nearby and picked it up, holding it out to her.

She took it from him and gently smoothed its fur. "Well… I guess we may be even." Miz grinned. He knew that whatever had happened between them was now in the past. "Though I am curious, is the pattern intentional? _R_ed _r_oses, _o_range _o_rangutan…"

Miz heard her stress the first letter of each word and was pleasantly surprised that she had managed to pick up the pattern that he had only thought of randomly the day before. "Guess you'll just have to wait and see," he teased.

Mickie laughed. "Well, I'm curious as to what you'll find starting with the letter y that's also yellow…"

_That makes two of us_, Miz thought to himself. _Because so far, I have nothing._

XXXXX

"Seriously, calm down. Just find anything yellow and be done with it."

Miz shook his head and continued pacing. "No, it needs to be something special. Something perfect."

Jericho sighed in frustration. Miz had been driving him crazy since the whole damn storyline started, but this just took the cake. He had gone through nearly two dozen stores, searching from top to bottom, looking for the next gift to give Mickie on TV. Worse, he had dragged Jericho along with him- at least until Jericho all but rebelled and dragged Miz back to the hotel.

"You are acting like an idiot."

"Just an idiot? Not a Pharisee or a hypocrite this time?" Miz asked sarcastically.

"What the fuck crawled up your ass and died? You've been annoying for the past week, but a downright bastard all day. This isn't the first time you've bought something last minute, and in the end _this is just a fucking storyline_!"

"No, it's not."

Jericho thought he had misheard him. He _must_ have misheard him, because there was no way that Miz was that serious about all of this. One look at his friend told him all he needed to know, though. Miz was completely serious about this. For some reason, this wasn't just a normal angle for him- and there was only one reason Jericho could think of to explain why. "Holy shit, you're in love with Mickie!"

Miz winced. "Keep your voice down!"

"But… you! And Mickie! And holy shit, does she know!?"

"No, she doesn't know and you can't tell her!"

"Wait… you're in a romantic storyline with Mickie and she doesn't know that you actually love her? You aren't going to use the storyline to ask her out or something, are you?"

"Well, that _was_ the plan…"

Jericho suddenly remembered seeing Stephanie arguing with Miz not long before the first segment was due to air and began to piece things together. "So you love Mickie and just happened to be put in a storyline with her, where you had some sort of plan to actually ask her out for real…" he said slowly. "Please tell me you didn't do what I think you did. Tell me you weren't the one to suggest this."

Miz hung his head in shame and muttered, "I was."

Jericho ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Damnit, Miz! What the hell were you thinking? After everything she's been through with Vince controlling the storylines using her you go and do this! Did you even stop for a moment to think about how she'd react to this?"

"Of course I did! It's just that by then it was too late to change anything. Now I'm stuck in this and I don't know what to do about it except continue and hope that Mickie realizes that I'm completely serious about this."

"How? By continually showering her with gifts?" Jericho shook his head. "Miz, that's not what Mickie wants at all. She wants someone she can just hang out and have a good time with."

"But I already-"

"Someone she _trusts_," Jericho continued. "And frankly, once she realizes what you did, that person isn't going to be you."

Miz sank down onto the edge of one of the bed, his head in his hands. He completely fucked up, and didn't know how to fix it. "What should I do?"

Jericho sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. You need a gift for tonight first, and then we'll try to figure something out for the long-term. At least you're going to have a couple of weeks after this before the storyline needs to come to some sort of conclusion, whether that's you and Mickie together or not."

"Can you at least help me figure out something for tonight, even if you want nothing to do with this afterwards?"

"That I can do, and we'll see about whether or not I'll help you later," Jericho said. "Depends on whether I'm still pissed at you for what you did when the show's over."

The room was silent for a few moments as each man tried to think of something yellow starting with the letter y. "What about yellow gold?" Jericho finally asked. "Instead of white gold or whatever else they sell these days. Buy her a bracelet or something."

Miz shook his head. "It's kind of a cop-out, isn't it? Using yellow as the word starting with y, I mean."

"Okay… well, it's not quite as exciting but continuing the trend of simpler gifts, what about yarn?"

"Yarn?" Miz asked skeptically.

"I mean, buy her a handmade yellow hat and scarf set. There were a couple of shops that were selling things like that since it's starting to get colder and I'm sure one of them is going to have something yellow."

Miz thought about it for a moment before finally nodding. "Alright. It's a bit of a stretch, but I can live with it. And now that you mentioned it, I do remember seeing something that might work in a shop we passed earlier…"

XXXXX

"You again? You just don't give up do you?" The cameras were already rolling for their segment and Miz was just walking into the picture.

"Of course not!" Miz said, pretending to be shocked at the idea. "How could I give up on a beautiful, charming, amazing-"

"Shut up," Mickie said though she was still smiling. "What did you bring me this week?"

"How do you know I brought anything?"

She rolled her eyes. "You've brought me something for the past two weeks, you're here now, and I can see it." She leaned around him and tried to grab the package he was holding behind his back, but he pulled it away. "Come on, Miz, please?"

"Well since you asked so nicely…" He handed the box to her.

Mickie grabbed it and carefully lifted the lid. "Oh, they're beautiful," she said as she pulled out the hat and scarf, yet Miz could tell that she was confused.

"Is something wrong?"

"I had been hoping you'd follow the pattern of the gift being the next color in the rainbow, with the name of it starting with the same letter as the color… but neither _h_at nor _s_carf follows that pattern," she explained.

"But they're made of yellow _y_arn," he pointed out.

Mickie glanced down at them and laughed. "So they are," she said. "And just in time for winter, too. Thank you, Miz." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Now the real question is, how long are you going to keep doing this?"

Miz leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear, just loud enough for the camera to catch, "As long as you want me to."

Once the camera stopped rolling and Mickie had gone to put her new gifts away, Jericho stepped out of the shadows where he had been watching. "Please tell me you're going to help me," Miz begged.

Jericho sighed. "You're hopeless," he said. "I mean, have you ever even flirted with her outside these segments?"

Miz thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. "That's actually pathetic," he admitted.

"It is pathetic," Jericho said. "And that is the only reason I'm going to help you with this mess. But keep this in mind: if you hurt Mickie, I am not taking responsibility for this and you will be on your own at that point. Am I clear?"

Miz nodded nervously. "Crystal."


	5. Green is for Gems

**Disclaimer: -sigh- I wish I owned… but I don't!**

**A/N: SO sorry for the delay! I didn't manage to finish this before November like I had wanted to, so it got pushed to the back burner because of NaNoWriMo. Then it got pushed back AGAIN because of the holiday season! Now I'm back to working on and I promise that the last 3 chapters will be up faster!**

"Miz? Miz! Get up!"

Miz groaned and rolled away from whoever was incessantly poking him. "Go 'way," he muttered as he pulled the covers over his head and tried to go back to sleep.

"Oh no you don't!"

Miz yelped as the blanket he had been wrapped up in was quickly pulled away, leaving him cold and shivering. He turned around, glaring, ready to yell at whoever woke him up. His anger dissipated, though, when he realized who it was who was standing over him, hand on her hip and smirking at him.

"Are you awake yet?" Mickie asked. "We need to get going soon."

Mix frowned. In his half-asleep state he couldn't remember if there was anywhere they needed to be or not. "What are you talking about? Where are we going?"

"Out," Mickie said.

"Out?"

"Out," she repeated.

"Out… where?" Miz asked, trying to get more information.

Mickie shrugged. "I don't know. To the zoo, maybe, or an amusement park or something. Just… out."

Miz stared at her and slowly counted to ten before saying, "You woke me up at 8:30 in the morning to see if I wanted to go to the _zoo_?"

Mickie's face fell slightly. "Well… yeah," she said, in a slightly more subdued voice. "I mean, we hardly ever hang out together outside of work and since we both have the day off today I just thought…"

Miz could have kicked himself. He hadn't meant to upset Mickie like that. "No, no, I want to go," he quickly assured her. "I was just surprised by the request, that's all." He stifled a yawn and continued. "Just give me a few minutes to get ready, okay?"

Mickie grinned and hugged him quickly. "Thank you!" she said cheerfully. "I'll just wait outside. Don't take too long!"

Miz watched her leave, a faint smile on his face, before finally getting out of bed and quickly getting dressed. He was just about to open the door when he stopped, his hand still on the handle; were those voices he heard outside?

"Yeah, he finally agreed to go with me." That was Mickie.

"See, I told you this would be a good idea. You two just don't spend that much time together anymore." Miz was surprised; that particular voice belonged to Jericho.

_I should've known he'd be involved…_ Miz thought as he pulled the door open.

Mickie, who had just started talking again, stopped mid-sentence and smiled at him. "You ready to go, then?"

He smiled back at her. "Of course."

"What, no smile and cheerful greeting for me?"

Miz rolled his eyes. "Why hello Jericho, imagine seeing you up and about this early. Whatever could you be doing here?" He glared at his friend as he spoke, silently telling him _I know you're behind this_.

Jericho grinned, as if to remind Miz that he had wanted him to help. "Here," he said aloud as he passed Miz the cup of coffee he had been holding. "You look like you need this more than I do."

Miz scowled as he grabbed the coffee but before he could say anything Mickie spoke up. "If we want to beat the crowds we really do have to leave now," she reminded him.

Mickie hadn't been lying. Though they managed to get there ahead of most of the crowds there was still a small line in front of the ticket windows. Miz instinctively flipped up the hood of his sweatshirt while Mickie tugged her hat down lower over her eyes. Neither of them wanted to be recognized that day.

Miz paid for the tickets and the two of them entered the park. "What do you want to do first?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I've never actually been here before, so…"

"You've never been here before?" Miz asked, surprised.

"Nope. Why?"

"It's just that I remember coming here with a couple other guys when we were in the area a few years back," he said. "Didn't any of the Divas want to come here?"

Mickie laughed. "Miz, most of the Divas would rather go shopping or go to a spa or something on their days off," she told him. "Going to an amusement park is something they'd rather do on a date than with the rest of us girls."

"Well then they're idiots for missing out on a place like this," Miz told her. "Come on. I hope you like roller coasters…"

Mickie's face fell when she saw the long line at the ride, but Miz was adamant about going on it. "The line will only be worse later," he told her. "And you can't come here and not go on the Griffon. There's a 90 degree drop where they literally hang you over the edge first before just dropping you close to 200 feet down…"

Mickie grinned at his enthusiasm. "And to think that you didn't want to come when I first asked you…" she teased.

Miz laughed. Though he had been reluctant to go at first, he was glad that he had agreed in the end. He was always able to relax more about Mickie. She just had that calming energy round her; that was one of the many things he loved about her.

The line seemed to move fairly quickly as Miz and Mickie spent the time chatting about how things were going in their lives. Finally they reached the front of the line where they only had to wait for the current group of riders to go through the roller coaster before they could get on.

"Hey, you know you can't wear your hat on the ride, right?" the employee standing there said. "You should have put it in one of the lockers, since none of us can hold onto it for you."

"Damnit, I didn't think about that," Mickie muttered, her face worried. "Is there anything I can do now?" she asked the man.

He shrugged. "Sit on it?"

"Sit on my favorite hat? Not a chance!" Mickie said hotly.

"If you can roll it up without ruining it I could probably fit it in my pocket," Miz offered quickly, hoping to stop the potential argument before it even began.

"Really? Oh, thank you!" Mickie said as she pulled the hat off and carefully started rolling it up.

The employee, who had glanced down to unlock the gate, looked up and jumped in surprise. "I know you!" he said loudly. "Both of you! You're-"

"Yes, we are, now if you'll excuse us…" Miz said politely as he carefully stowed Mickie's hat, flipped down the hood of his sweatshirt, and politely pushed past the man to get on the ride.

"I hate when people recognize us like that…" Mickie said quietly to Miz as the ride started up.

"Yeah, but at least we weren't around long enough for him to ask us for autographs."

Mickie giggled, but slowly fell silent as they got closer to the top of the drop. The ride stopped for a moment and Mickie gulped as she stared down at the drop below her. "Um… Miz?"

Miz squeezed her hand reassuring, just as the ride was suddenly released and they began to fall.

Mickie screamed, but by the time they reached the end of the drop and were going into the first loop she was laughing and enjoying the thrill of the ride.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Miz asked as they got off the ride.

"No, you were right; it was totally worth the wait." Quick as a flash, she reached over and snatched her hat from Miz's pocket. "Not worth almost ruining my hat, though" she said as she unrolled it and put it on again. She flashed him a grin, letting him know that she was joking- mostly. "And you…" She flipped the hood of his sweatshirt back up. "Let's remain incognito for a while, okay?"

Miz forgot to breathe for a moment, wondering if Mickie knew how even small actions like that scrambled his mind. "What? Oh, uh, sure," he said after a moment, after realizing that Mickie was waiting for a response for him. "C'mon, I bet we can find a ride where you won't have to leave your hat behind."

They were back at where the storage lockers were when Miz stopped suddenly, causing Mickie to almost run into him. "What the-?" she started.

Miz pointed to his left, where there was a counter with a large screen on the wall behind it. "Pictures from the ride," Miz said, by means of an explanation. "And look-" He pointed to one towards the middle of the screen. "-there's us."

Mickie laughed and buried her face in Miz's shoulder. "God, I don't even want to know what we look like. I bet my hair's a mess in it, isn't it?"

Miz studied it for a moment. Mickie was laughing in the picture, and though most of her hair was pinned back against the seat enough of it was blowing around her face to give her a windswept look. He fished a few bills out of his pocket, motioned to the employee which one he wanted, and paid for a copy of the picture.

"No," Miz said as he pocketed the picture. "You look beautiful."

XXXXX

"So was my plan brilliant, or what?"

Miz sighed. After spending an amazing day with Mickie they returned to the hotel, where he would now have to deal with his roommate. "Yeah, it was good," Miz admitted grudgingly.

"Good?" Jericho said incredulously. "Just good?"

Miz quickly smothered a grin; it was always amusing to tick Jericho off a bit. He shrugged off his sweatshirt and carefully removed the picture from the pocket before throwing the article of clothing haphazardly over one of the chairs.

"What's that?" Jericho asked as he walked over to get a better look at it.

"Nothing."

"It's obviously something, or you wouldn't be trying to hide it." Before Miz could protest, Jericho had snatched the picture from his hands and looked at it. "Nice picture," he said, for once not sounding sarcastic. "Mickie looks relaxed, like she's having fun. Is this what you're going to give her this week?"

Miz shook his head and took the picture back from his friend. "No, this is mine," he said as he carefully put the picture in his suitcase. "This-" he pulled a small black box from his bag. "-is for her."

He tossed the box to Jericho, who quickly caught it and opened it. Jericho whistled softly. "Damn," he said. "Going from a scarf to this? Pretty big leap, don't you think?"

"It's only a jade bracelet," Miz muttered, embarrassed. "Not even emeralds or anything real fancy."

"But it's still jewelry. It's _expensive_ jewelry, for all that its only jade." He shook his head, almost in disbelief. "I was going to suggest something like this, but to have you decide to buy it on your own…" He smiled wryly. "Are you sure that you need my help with this mess you've gotten yourself into?"

Jericho ducked as a pad of paper was thrown at his head. "Yeah," Miz said. "Help me figure out what the hell to say when I give it to her."

XXXXX

Miz sat in his silent hotel room after the Raw show was over, just staring at the cell phone in his hands.

"What's wrong?"

Miz jumped; he hadn't even heard Jericho come in. "What?"

"I asked what was wrong," Jericho said as he began digging through his bag.

"How do you know something's wrong?"

"You're staring down at your phone like you just got a text telling you that someone died," Jericho told him. "So come on. Whose funeral are you going to?"

"Mine."

Now it was Jericho's turn to ask, "What?"

Miz silently passed him the phone. Jericho looked down at the screen and gulped at the message he saw.

_We need to talk._

_-Hunter_


	6. Blue is for Box

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. I own nothing.**

**A/N: I had so much fun writing this chapter! Especially the flashback –evil grin-. If I didn't stop writing halfway through it would've been posted ages ago! Sorry, this ones so short too, but the next chapter will definitely be longer. Anyway, two more after this. Enjoy!**

Jericho clapped a hand on Miz's shoulder. "Well, it's been nice knowing you," he said in a mock-cheerful voice. "And remember, I had nothing to do with this."

Miz groaned and buried his head in his hands. "What am I going to do?"

"You're going to reply to him agreeing to meet with him whenever he returns to Raw and beg for mercy when you do see him," Jericho said. "And you're not going to mention me."

Miz was already texting on his phone, trying to carefully word his reply so he didn't sound guilty. It wasn't that he was afraid of Hunter, but the older wrestler was known to be fiercely protective of those he cared about. Miz had been lucky that Hunter had been working a program over on Smackdown during the last few weeks; Hunter probably felt that it hadn't been worthwhile to arrange to meet up with him when their schedules were so different, especially after he had already warned Miz to tread carefully.

Miz, being the general idiot that he was, hadn't listened. In fact, he had overstepped so far that Hunter felt the need to request a meeting. Miz knew that the last segment on Raw had gone a bit beyond simple friendship, and more than casual flirting, but both he and Mickie had just run with it.

"_Guess who?"_

_Mickie smiled. "Miz," she said as she gently pulled his hands away from her eyes. _

"_Nope, you're not allowed to look," Miz said, carefully covering her eyes with one hand. _

"_Oh, come on," she said with a laugh as she reached up to remove his hand again._

"_You're ruining the moment!" Miz said, also laughing. He grabbed her hand and slowly lowered it before she could do anything. "Just play along, alright? Now close your eyes…"_

_Mickie's eyes were firmly shut when he pulled his hand away. "Okay, what's the great gift this week?" She jumped when Miz grabbed her wrist but kept her eyes closed._

"_Okay, you can look."_

_Mickie looked down at her wrist and gasped. "Miz, it's beautiful!" she said, staring at the delicate green bracelet that he had put on her. "Oh, I love it!" She looked up at Miz and took a small step closer, so the two of them were almost touching._

_Before he even realized what he was doing, Miz leaned down and gently pressed his lips to Mickie's. The kiss lasted for only a second or two before his brain caught up with his body and he quickly pulled back. "I- I need to go," he muttered before walking hurriedly off-screen._

Once the cameras had stopped rolling he had immediately apologized to her but she just laughed it off, saying that if he didn't do it she would have. Still, it seemed like the damage had been done.

"Are you going to tell Mickie?" Jericho asked suddenly.

Miz thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't want her to worry. Maybe this won't be as bad as we think it'll be."

Jericho laughed humorlessly. "Do you really believe that?"

"No, but you never know."

There was silence for a few moments before Jericho hesitantly said, "There's something else you should probably keep in mind. Remember, Hunter is married to Stephanie and Stephanie is one of the few people who knows the truth behind everything. If he talks to her about what happened on Monday and she lets something slip…"

"Then I'm dead," Miz finished for him. "Completely, totally dead. In fact I should probably kill myself now and save Hunter the trouble."

Jericho rolled his eyes. "Don't be so fucking melodramatic," he said irritably. "I'm not saying that he necessarily does know anything, just that you need to be prepared if he-"

Miz's phone chimed, alerting them to a new text message, and Jericho fell silent. Miz slowly reached out and picked it up. He quickly read the message and almost sagged in relief. "Looks like I'll have at least a few more days to live," he said.

"What does the message say?"

"Just that Hunter's going to meet me sometime during or after the show on Monday to talk."

"He's really good at the cryptic messages, isn't he?" Jericho muttered as he leaned over to read the message over Miz's shoulder.

Miz smacked him. "Shut up! This is serious!"

Jericho hit him back, harder. "You don't think I know that?" he snapped. "I've seen what Hunter's like when he's pissed, and I don't want anything else to happen to the four of us! But you've fucked up _big_ time and we both know that! So shut the fuck up, stop whining, and deal with like a grown man instead of some overemotional teenager!"

Miz stared at him in shock for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

XXXXX

The cameras were already rolling as Miz walked over to Mickie. "Oh hey, Miz," she said, smiling.

"Listen, I wanted to apologize for last week," he began. "It was completely out of line and-"

Mickie held up her hand to stop him. "Don't. I didn't mind at all, really, but its in the past now anyway. Let's just focus on the present."

"Do you mean present time, or this?" Miz joked as he pulled handed a box to her.

Mickie laughed. "Why not both?"

Ironically, that box held another box inside. The second box was fairly small, and blue with silver patches on it. On the side was a small lock, with a delicate key already in place.

"I figured since we're on the road so often you might like someplace to keep your valuable so you don't lose them," Miz explained. "And this way you don't lose that bracelet I gave you last week," he added jokingly.

Mickie smiled. "It's beautiful," she said as she turned the box over in her hands, studying every detail of it. "Thank you." She leaned up and kissed him lightly before walking away.

Miz watched her leave as the cameras stopped rolling and moved away as well. His brief moment of contentment was cut short, though, as a familiar voice said, "Hello, Miz. Ready to talk?"


	7. Purple is for Poem

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot, and knowing my luck even that's not mine.**

**A/N: Mm, ended up being a bit shorter than I would have liked but I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway. Only the epilogue after this, folks!**

As soon as they were out of sight Hunter wheeled around to face Miz, his eyes blazing with fury. "You fucking bastard," he snarled. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just punch you now."

"It'll draw too much attention?" Miz ventured, hoping that Hunter's desire to keep their group's secrets private would be enough to deter him.

"Your fucking little storyline is already going to draw attention!" Hunter snapped. "If I knew what you were planning sooner I never would have let it get this far! What the fuck were you thinking?"

Miz looked away, ashamed. "I… I don't know. I thought I had it all worked out, but I don't know anything anymore."

"Fuck," Hunter swore, though most of the anger was gone. "I should've seen it sooner, but it was obvious after the kiss last week. You really do love her, don't you?"

"Yeah," Miz said quietly. "I do."

"And you thought this would help? Miz, this is only going to make everything worse. Much, much worse."

"Look, the storyline will end next week, and I swear I'll explain everything to her then. I know I fucked up, but give me the chance to fix it. Please."

Hunter. "Fine," he said gruffly. "But you'll only have this one chance before I end it myself. And you'll still have to answer to me for hurting Mickie."

"Oh, and one more thing," he added as he started to walk away. "Tell Jericho to stop helping you."

XXXXX

"He knew I was involved? How the hell did he know!?"

"He's Hunter. He knows everything," Miz said absently as he scribbled a few more words in the note he was writing. "And I think Mickie told him how you suggested our trip to the amusement park. He probably just put everything together."

"I should've known she'd tell him…" Jericho muttered, though it was obvious that he wasn't really angry.

"Mm." Miz read over the lines he had just written and scowled as he crumpled the paper into a ball. With a sigh, he grabbed a new piece and started over again.

"Not having any luck, I take it?" Jericho asked absently.

Miz shook his head. "I just can't seem to phrase it right. It always comes out sounding worse than it actually is."

Jericho looked at him incredulously. "Miz, you started a fake storyline with Mickie after everything Vince had done in hopes that she would fall for you so you could ask her out! That's manipulation, lying, and throwing salt into her only-recently-healed wounds, at the least! It sounds worse than it actually is because, despite what you think, it really is that bad!"

Miz groaned and resisted the urge to bang his head against the desk. "I know that! Goddamnit, I fucking know that, okay? But I'd still like to get through this with our friendship intact, if at all possible!"

Jericho remained silent. Everyone else knew it, but it still seemed like Miz was in denial. And he didn't have the heart to tell his friend that, no matter what he said, his friendship with Mickie was as good as over.

XXXXX

_Mickie, I love you. And this isn't part of the storyline because I really do._

No good. Miz started over.

_Please, finish reading this before saying anything._

That would only cause her to panic before she even knew what was going on. Still no good.

_I'm sorry for doing this, but I suggested the storyline._

Well, he wanted to ease her into the idea first…

_Don't hate me, but…_

Miz crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and sighed. What was wrong with him? It shouldn't have been this hard to write a note explaining what had happened, but he just couldn't get the words down. It was already Sunday night, and with less than twenty four hours until he needed to actually give the note to Mickie he was quickly running out of time.

"What I wouldn't give for some advice from you right now," he muttered to his sleeping roommate. But no, Hunter had said that he needed to do this without Jericho's help so, somehow, he'd muddle through this on his own.

He stifled a yawn, grabbed a fresh piece of paper and started over again.

When Jericho stumbled out of bed the next morning the first thing he saw, or rather, felt, was the crumbled up piece of paper he was stepping on. He blinked sleepily, staring down at the floor in confusion. "Wasn't Miz throwing these in a garbage can?" he muttered. He glanced over at said garbage can, only to have his question answered for him.

"Oh," was all he said as he stared at the overflowing garbage and the paper balls that were scattered around it. A few paper balls were in the chair that Miz was still sitting in, having fallen asleep while he worked, though the notebook and pencil had long since fallen.

Jericho snorted and, kicking the paper out of his way, managed to clear a path to the bathroom. He'd wake Miz up later; he was going to need all the sleep he could get.

XXXXX

Miz spent the last few hours before the show started at the arena, hanging out in the first hallway on the right past catering (he told himself that he didn't choose the location because he was being sentimental, though he knew that was a lie). Hunter and Jericho left him alone, and he had a feeling that they told Mickie to stay away until after their segment as well- all of which was perfectly fine by him.

It was with a heavy heart that he finally left to go film the last segment with Mickie. Though he had tried to be optimistic about it earlier, he knew deep down that there was no way that things would end well.

"I was wondering when you would show up," Mickie said cheerfully once the cameras were rolling. "I've been trying to think of what you could have found for a gift this week, but I just can't think of anything."

Miz forced a smile and pulled a purple envelope out of his pocket. "How about poetry?"

"You wrote me a poem? Is it any good?" Though Mickie was joking, it was easy to see that she was excited to read what he had written.

"You tell me."

Mickie laughed as she opened the envelope and began reading. It wasn't long until her joy started to quickly fade, only to be replaced by confusion and hurt.

_Dear Mickie,_

_I'm sorry that this isn't a poem. I suppose I could have told you that this was prose but I'd rather not get into the whole "purple prose" jokes right now because there's something serious I need to tell you. Something I should have told you awhile ago- about six weeks ago, in fact, when this whole mess began._

_I love you, Mickie. Right now you're probably thinking that this is just something to further the storyline, but it isn't. I honestly, truly do love you. There's a reason why I had to tell you in a note, why I couldn't just come out and say it even if it wasn't part of the storyline. _

_The entire storyline was faked. Stephanie and the writer's didn't come up with it._

_I did._

_I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I just wasn't thinking at all. I wanted to call it off after that first week because I realized how stupid I had been, but you were enjoying it and I didn't want to upset you. I now realize that by allowing it to continue, I've only hurt you more._

_Jericho and Hunter had nothing to do with this. In fact, Jericho was making sure that I didn't ruin things more than I already had and Hunter was the one who finally forced me to end this tonight. So don't blame them, because none of this is their fault._

_Everything is my fault, and I'm so sorry for that. You have no idea how much I regret what I've done. Just give the chance to talk to you about it, please._

_-Miz_

Mickie was staring at the paper in her hands in shock, not saying anything.

"Mickie?" Miz said quietly as he reached out to touch her arm.

As soon as his fingers made contact with her skin she jumped, wrenching her arm away. "Don't touch me!" she yelled, wiping furiously at the tears in her eyes.

"Mickie, I can explain-"

"Just stay away from me!"

She took off running down the hall and Miz motioned for the cameras to turn off before following her.

"Mickie, please! Just stop, so we can discuss this!" He caught up to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her to a halt in the middle of the hallway.

"Let go of me!" she screamed. "Just let go, and leave me alone!"

"Please, can we talk about this?" Miz begged.

"What is there to talk about? You used me, Miz. _You used me!_ Was it just an excuse to live out some twisted fantasy of yours? You wanted to talk, Miz, so _answer me_!"

"No," he said quietly as he let go over her. "No, it wasn't like that. Please, you have to understand-"

"Oh, I understand _perfectly_," she snapped. "None of it meant anything to you! Not our friendship, not the hell we went through after Vince. It was all a joke, wasn't it?"

A crowd was starting to form by this time and Miz was desperate to take the conversation somewhere private. "C'mon, can we talk about this alone?" he asked as he reached out for her again.

Mickie slapped him across the face. "I'm not going _anywhere_ with a bastard like you!" she hissed before storming off down the hallway again.

"Mickie, please-!"

She stopped and turned around slowly to face him. "Don't talk to me again," she said, her voice dangerously quiet. "Don't talk to me, don't try to contact me. In fact, don't even come near me. I never want to see your face, Miz."

Miz watched her walk away, his face burning from where she had hit him.

"What are you going to do?" Jericho asked, stepping out of the crowd as the others started to disperse.

"What can I do? If she doesn't want me to bother her, then I'll leave her alone," Miz said quietly, before turning and walking in the opposite direction as Mickie.

Jericho watched the two of them leave in silence. "You gonna go after him?" he asked suddenly

Hunter stepped out of the shadows. "Not really necessary anymore, is it?"

Jericho glanced back towards where Miz had been, but the other wrestler had already disappeared. "Guess not."


End file.
